Word: mhc
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Upon meeting a virus, the macrophage, which moves about, amoeba-like, on long cellular extensions known as pseudopods (false feet), does more than just ingest the intruder. It has another, even more important function. On its surface, like virtually all body cells, the macrophage carries MHC (for major histocompatibility complex) molecules, protein badges that enable other immune cells to recognize the macrophage as friend, or self, and not attack it. After digesting the virus, the macrophage proudly displays strips of protein from the virus in the grooves of some of its MHC molecules. Once a bit of protein -- which...
...xenophobic zeal to destroy anything that is foreign to the body. Once the alien threat has been identified, agents known as helper T cells unleash the powerful immune response that attacks grafted tissue. During the 1970s, physicians found that they could minimize this reaction by more closely matching the MHC proteins, or immunological "dog tags," of a donor with those of the recipient. Even so, they could not completely eliminate the rejection response. To make matters worse, the only drugs available to weaken it shut down the defensive system completely, leaving patients vulnerable to viruses, bacteria or tumors. The triple...